NCC remits N133.4bn to federation account in 2 years

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has, in the last two years, remitted a total sum of N133, 426,062,786 to the consolidated revenue fund of the Federal Government.

Although, NCC, the telecoms’ regulator’s primary role is not to generate revenue for the government, but to nurture and regulate the industry, figures obtained from the commission showed impressive remittance of funds to the coffers of the consolidated revenue of the Federal Government, especially in the last two years.

For instance, the commission’s last remittance to the consolidated revenue fund, which was on June 30, 2017, was N12,705,154,120bn; and it came just less than 10 days after the NCC remitted the sum of N1,282,453,138bn to the account.

Also, NCC, last year, transferred N20,000,598,873bn and another N15,000,000,000bn in March before remitting N29,475,867,407bn and N16,500,000,000bn in December of the 2016.

In 2015, however, the commission remitted N23, 512,316,450bn in October after paying N6, 856,182,132bn in September of the same year.

It is noteworthy also that the quarterly contribution of telecom sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been consistently impressive in the last two years.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, recently said that the sector contributed N1.549 trillion to the GDP in the second quarter of 2017, representing 6.68 per cent increase from the first quarter of the year (N1.452trn).

The National Bureau of Statistics report has confirmed that the telecommunications sector, during the second quarter of 2017, contributed 9.5 per cent to the GDP in contrast to 9.1 per cent contribution in the first quarter of the year.

“We are very proud of the remarkable contribution the sector is making. Even at the recent times when the whole economy was facing challenges, the sector had remained resilient and stable,” said EVC NCC.

Similarly, the nation’s quest for attainment of 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018, has received a major boost, as ITU-UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development last year announced that Nigeria had achieved 21 per cent level of penetration from less than 10 per cent years earlier.